(CNSNews.com) – Fresh from winning a referendum scrapping term limits, Venezuela’s left-wing President Hugo Chavez late Sunday declared the start of a new “Bolivarian” decade and confirmed he would stand for re-election again in 2013.
 
He was speaking about an hour after the country’s National Electoral Council (CNE) announced in preliminary results that the “yes” vote had won by a margin of 54.3 percent to 45.6.
 
The outcome supports a constitutional amendment, long sought by the U.S.-baiting leader, allowing him to run for re-election indefinitely and remain in office for as long as he keeps winning elections.
 
The 54-year-old has been in power since 1999 and was re-elected in 2006. His term was due to have expired in 2013.
 
After failing in an earlier attempt to extend his tenure – he narrowly lost a referendum in December 2007 – he put forward an amended proposal allowing for unlimited re-election not just for the president but for other officials too, including state governors.
 
Addressing supporters from the balcony of the Miraflores presidential palace in the capital, Caracas, Chavez declared the result a triumph for “truth against lies” and “the dignity of the homeland.”
 
“This is a clear victory of the people, a clear victory of the revolution,” he said. “We have opened the doors to the future wide open.”
 
The official ABN news agency quoted him as saying Cuba’s Fidel Castro had called to congratulate him and the Venezuelan people on a victory impossible to measure in magnitude.

Chavez, a former paratrooper commander, has positioned himself as the developing world’s most vocal critic of what he calls the U.S. “empire,” which he blames for a short-lived coup attempt by opponents in 2002.
 
His efforts to unify Latin American countries and counter U.S. influence have won the support of like-minded leaders in Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador, although some countries in the region are wary of his so-called “Bolivarian Revolution.”
 
Named after 19th century Latin American independence champion Simon Bolivar, the socialist movement introduced by Chavez in the late 1990s claims to be aimed at helping the poor and opposing “neo-liberalism” and “imperialism.”
 
Chavez has in recent years formed close ties with Iran, boosting economic and military links and offering the Islamic republic strong diplomatic support in the face of Western efforts to isolate it for its suspect nuclear programs.
 
Admiral Dennis Blair, the new U.S. director of national intelligence, told a Senate committee hearing Thursday that Venezuela was “serving as a bridge to help Iran build relations with other Latin American countries.”
 
Blair also raised concerns about Chavez’ support for leftist FARC rebels in Colombia and said he was creating “a permissive environment” for the Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorist group, Hezbollah, to exploit.
 
During his election campaign, President Obama said he would be willing to meet with leaders of countries hostile to the U.S., including Venezuela.
 
When Obama won, Chavez called it an historic moment, and expressed a desire for “new relations” with Washington. But the warmer tone was short-lived. After Obama voiced concern last month about Chavez’ FARC links, the Venezuelan leader charged that the new president had “the same stench” as his predecessor.
 
By Saturday the mood had changed again. Chavez told reporters ahead of the referendum that he was ready to meet with Obama before a summit of Western Hemisphere leaders in the spring.
 
“Any day is propitious for talking with President Barack Obama,” he said.
 
The Fifth Summit of the Americas brings together the leaders of all countries in the hemisphere bar Cuba. It is scheduled to be held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on April 17-19.

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